PHIL BARDSLEY could be handed a Sunderland lifeline after the dismissal of Paolo Di Canio. Sunderlandâs longest-serving first-team player was ostracised from the first-team picture by Di Canio after being pictured celebrating the Black Catsâ successful survival bid in a casino during the final week of last season. Bardsley was forced to train with the clubâs Under-21s during pre-season and then found himself in further hot water last month when he was suspended by the club for mocking Sunderlandâs opening-day defeat to Fulham on social media. The 28-year-old was fined and then issued a public apology for the incident, but, with Di Canio at the helm, there was no way back for the full-back. Although he remains sidelined with a foot injury, Bardsley was included in a team meal prior to Tuesday nightâs Capital One Cup win over Peterborough after caretaker boss Kevin Ball decided to bring him back into the fold. Ball, hoping to succeed Di Canio on a permanent basis, says he has to adopt a clean slate with Bardsley and expects the same if an exterior candidate is selected to become the next Sunderland head coach. âPhil accepts that what he did at the time (the casino visit) wasnât in his or the clubâs best interests,â said Ball. âBut, for whatever reason, he did it and I spoke to him about it at the time, so I know all about it. âWhat subsequently happened (the social media incident) has also been dealt with. âThe biggest thing for me now is that we need Phil Bardsley fit and playing. âIs it a clean slate? Well, really I think any manager coming â be it me or someone else â would have to take that approach because he (Bardsley) hasnât done anything wrong under them. âIf he did it again, then obviously the only one who would pay would be Phil Bardsley because he has already been told once.â Bardsley, in the final year of his contract at the Stadium of Light, is expected to resume full training in a fortnight after breaking his foot while playing for Ballâs U21s in their opening game of the season against Bolton last month. And although the former Manchester United defender was not given a squad number by Di Canio, he was still included among the Sunderland players registered with the Premier League after the end of the transfer window.
yeah but its not about the new manager is it its us the fans who he let down the most ,hurtling towards relegation and theres him amongst loads of money in the early hours pissed as if he couldnt give a ****, first game in andd he takes the piss with a tweet
Exactly! Maybe bally isnt as in touch with us as we think, a u-turn is not really an option in my book
Well I for one think this is excellent news. Bardsley was a plonker but he isn't the devil in disguise and given out current precarious position, we are going to need him and Cattermole to be firing on all guns until May. Bally is showing the man management skills to be an inclusive boss not a petulant head case. The more I hear him talk about the job and the more I think about this the more my finger points at Kevin Ball. He has all his coaching badges and has worked his at through the system here from youths to under 21's. Balls very fabric is entwined at every level at this club from former playing legend and captain to senior coach. He wants the job and IMO no candidate will have that grasp on what makes us tick than KB. We are already bottom of the world so for him, the only way is up. Give him 12 games and see where we are in December. If we see a performance today from the players and who knows a result, then it will show you us where we should go. It might just persuade Ellis too.
All well and good until the next " incident" though, no way back for me. The casino was one of those things stupid but, who hasn't done out stupid when pissed, the great start one was taking the piss not only out of PDC but, the fans and the club.
Now no-one outside the club will ever know all the events, but to me, reading between the lines, Bardo's issues were directly aimed at PDC, not the club. Easy to see with hindsight now Paulo has gone and we are not looking through rose tinted anymore. That said, his actions infuriated the fans and was bang out of order. Lifeline? Not from me. It's too late and he ****ed up too much. Goodbye.
I suppose it`s sensible from a managers perspective as it gives him another option, and, if we`re paying his wages he may as well earn them. I don`t like what he did (twice) and for me he`s going to have a hell of a lot of making up to do. Perhaps KB`s using that as an incentive?
For me the casino incident wasn't the biggest issue. Anyone can go out and get a bit carried away now and again. The social media comment though, bang out of order. He must of known what a effect a comment like that would have on Sunderland fans. It was as much a slap in the face as the Lee Clark tee-shirt incident (Anyone fancy bringing Lee Clark back? Nah thought not, he's a Geordie).
Agreed, i could have forgiven the casino incident and thought at the time it was maybe a bit ott, but the tweet, never in a month of sundays, how fookin dare he!
It was nothing like the Clark incident imo He went out on the pop at a casino (shall we sack evey player that has a drink) and made a poor judgement over the tweet but that imo was aoimed 100% at his dispute with PDC not at the fans. Clark wore a defamatory t-shirt aimed 100% at the Sunderland fans (knowing it would cause harm) at a Mag cup final. The two are completely different.
I disagree mate Like I already said the casino thing...No biggy. Clark had his picture taken in an age when social media was in it's infancy. I doubt he for one second he thought it would get the attention it did. He may not have even know he was on camera. Bardo himself however posted a comment in an age where he couldn't help but know it would leak out to our fans. ** Not sure how this is aimed exclusively to PDC by the way..."Great opening day. Hahahhahaha hahahhaha!!!"
Devils advocate here but trying to look at this from a different angle so, tin hat on. Any manager in any business should use all the available resources. That`s not conjecture, it`s a management fact. Like it not Bardsley is a resource. KB will be fully aware of the fans opinions and so will Bardsley. Will KB get twice the effort out of him? Will he get twice the commitment? KB has nothing to lose. If it doesn`t work he`s no worse off. Isn`t this good management? Fire away!
Bang Bang Lets say you have an asset and they laugh at your customers would you bring them back to serve those customers again or would you shift them on? Bardsley took the piss out of 40K + fans that day that's 40K + customers. As Cyprus says, for me anyway exactly the same as the Lee Clarke thing except everyone knew Clarke was a nag.
Medic!!! I know mate. I`m trying (and struggling) to find plusses in what KB is doing. Can`t see it working but the extra effort and commitment is the only thing I can think of.
Think everyone likes Bally as a bloke and for what he is doing with the young uns/reserves/development squad (have I missed any?) but, most think that if he got the job full time and failed (a possibility with our bunch of twats) he would not get back into the fold. His possible bringing back of Bardsley for me anyway means he has lost some of the fans already and, anyone who thinks Bardsley will knuckle down and play like we know he can play is out of touch with reality. Bardsley is one of the rotten apples who should have been sold or loaned out in the window until his injury that is. Admittedly if Celustka is injured then we are up the tyne without a paddle.
i personally would'nt have him back for all the tea in china and i would'nt even have him on the club premises, he was voted player of the year twice and then does that to the clubs supporters also his wag had to chip in with her idiotic comments , from me its a big fat no nay never.
